About Us

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Sun block is expected in the summertime, writer’s block isn’t so welcome. Join author Diana Allandale (Diana Hunter in RL) for a series of writing workshops throughout the month of July designed to get your Muse out of the sun and back to work.

NOTE: All workshops are held at the Beach Area of Book Island (why should our Muses be the only ones getting a tan?) at 2:30 pm SLT.

You'll be writing and sharing at each workshop, although no formal critique will be given. This is really an opportunity to get some new ideas, play with some ideas and just have fun writing!

July 6th -- Developing strong characters

July 13th -- Doing more than just seeing the scene

July 20th -- Writing like we speak -- or -- Authenticity in dialogue -- or -- Say what?

July 27th -- Playing with characters

The above dates are scheduled but if something unforeseen should arise, a note will go out to both Diana’s Passionate Books group and to the Book Island events and discussion group, so be sure you're a member of one or both of those!

Who is Diana Hunter? She’s the author of twelve erotic romances and has been an active member of Second Life since October, 2006. You can learn more about Diana by visiting her website (www.dianahunter.net - warning not work safe) or her blog at www.dianahunter.blogspot.com.

This Sunday the 27th of June, Paisley Bebbe held the Third anniversary of her popular weekly talk show in Second Life “Tonight Live.” Paisley interviewed some notable guests from her first episodes, as well as Treet.tv’s CEO. But once the cameras went off, things got a little interesting.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Folks, it's been one busy month we've been reporting on the going's on in Second Life. We're going to take a little time this Monday July 5th to celebrate Second Life Newser's first month. And we're certain those in the USA will still be in a mood to party after the 4rth, so bring some fireworks.

We're still figuring out the time, but we do have a location. So If you're online on Monday, stop by for a little summer fun in the sun.

Despite all the attention SLB7 got this weekend, Relay for Life continued to hold events to get funds for cancer research. Two held were “Rock the Cure” from Friday to Saturday, and “Bid Me Bald” on Monday. Second Life Newser takes a look at these two events.

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Second Life Seventh Birthday celebration officially concluded around Midnight last night when the last event ended. But by all means the fun is not over. For any one whom didn't have a lot of time last week, the exhibits will be allowed to remain up, if not encouraged, until July 3. Courtney Linden stated that exhibits remaining on July 3rd must be taken down, or the builds will be lost when the sims close.

Doctor Gascoigne of the SL Birthday team had this final comment, "We want to thank everyone from Events Staff, Live Performance and DJs, Stage Builders, Stage Coordinators, Stage Managers and Stream Coordinators. Thank you for helping us deliver another great celebration."

Nothing says “Party” like a decorated cake, and SL7B’s Cake has some great ones.If you start here, at SL7B Phenomenal (17/241/22), you’ll arrive in front of a huge birthday cake.This exhibit is one of the most colorful spots in SL7B. Streamers, balloons, flowers, and of course the cakes show that there is a Party going on.

Vivianne O’Flynne and her crew have cooked up some tasty treats for you, so come hungry. There is something for every taste bud in SL here.Trust me.I have eaten my way through these exhibits a couple of times.

When you arrive you can go straight for the big cake or pick up some nibblies first.Check out the Ice Cream Parlour for slices of cake and other tasty treats.If you have time to sit, there’s an old fashioned soda counter or a few tables for two.An animated Philip Linden serves up the goodies.

After your ice cream, be sure to visit the Seven Continents Petting Zoo.Peacocks walk around freely, but watch out—one of them chased me.The chickens and bunnies are tamer and both are penned.There is also a large pen of lambs to pet.

In a nearby corral, the horses are very friendly.They are the most realistic horses I have seen and heard in SL.You can almost smell them!

As you might expect, the food choices on Cake are sweet.If you’re hot, cool down with an icy cone.Vivianne’s Sno Cone cart has them in three flavors:cherry, strawberry or grape.Another booth offers slices of pie served up by another animated Philip Linden.I can vouch for the pecan.It was great.

For the health conscious av, there are more than just sweets here.I found shrimp appetizers and some veggies.If that is too healthy, visit the Divinity Hot Dog Cart and pick from seven different styles of dogs.I had the fully loaded one, of course.

In between snacks, be sure to stop at Sojourner’s Seven Wonders of SL World Photo Gallery.Enjoy JoshBear Sojourner’s slides of the Star Trek Museum, International Space Flight Museum, Lost Gardens of Apollo, Straylight Gardens, Luskwood, Svarga, and more.In addition to great photos, he landmarked each site.Just click and take so you can visit them later at your leisure.

The gardens on Cake rival the sweets.There are flowers in every color, size and shape imaginable. Or check out Rose’s Sweet Shop at SL7B: Cake SW, SL7B Marvelous (231, 256, 21)which combines the two.I sampled a chocolate cupcake there, served up by—you guessed it-- Philip Linden again.He and the Cake crew have certainly been busy!

It’s been a busy week for a certain roving reporter, and haven’t been able to write as much on Second Life’s Seventh Birthday as I planned, between the Greenies, Philip Linden and other things. But I have seen some of the goings on there.

On Monday June 21, Pooky Amsterdam came to the SL7B Auditorium to give a talk. She talked about social media, saying it was growing in popularity because, “we are so much in control in it ... we access profiles at our own pace .... video much the same way, adding to it’s popularity. ... video much the same way, adding to it’s popularity. And spending ... increasing by 11 percent this year ... a 1.5 billion dollar market.”

“This is becoming nighttime entertainment, luring people away from television.” She felt the Internet was poised to make further inroads into traditional media in both it’s audience and it’s advertising revenue, citing a prediction advertisers would be spending 100 billion online by 2015. Internet ads also had a “superior viewer recall” than those on television, “fifty percent compared to twenty-eight percent.”

Machinima, she felt was more than just a recording, “We live inside this immersive place. ... (Here), you can talk to people around the world, or just down the street.” Pooky felt even though others regarded Second Life and virtual worlds in general dismissively, “this is the future of ‘television’ so interactive,’ they’ll have to invent a whole new word for it.”

at 6PM SL time, the LaurenLive comedy act was on stage, with comedian Lauren Weyland on stage. I say comedian and not comedienne, as the voice coming from the feminine tatooed avatar was clearly male. Lauren proceeded to make light of Second Life’s recent troubles, “Rumor has it the only Linden left is Torley and his alts.” (S)he also poked fun at other issues, pointing out one set of 2006 statistics of people in Second Life, “eleven percent, male in real life female in Second Life, female in real life and male in Second Life one point six percent, male in first life both in Second Life four point eight percent, and then there was one, four percent said ‘other.’ And I didn’t know what ‘other’ meant. (laughter) What is ‘other?’ “ I had been told Lauren would be taking a break from her comedy routine after this night until August.

Following LaurenLive, I walked around a little. I saw a few exhibits. The one that was occupied by it’s sponsors was the Raglan Shire one, with a couple of the tinines running on exercise wheels. A third bid me hello, “Greetings biggie,” and told me they were running to provide power to the sim, “if they stop running, you get lag.” I asked what would happen if one took a break. “Then the other gets mad and stops. Once a biggie tried running.” He told me the larger runner got stuck in there. He did say that tasty treats did keep the tiny runners going.

Tuesday the 22nd at 6PM was Jaycat & Frogg at the SL7B Auditorium. After listening to them, I looked around more exhibits. I found a Korean booth, which apparently had a dance act earlier in the day. But the dance animations were still there, along with a stringed instrument called a Geomungo. I went to Bear Island, and found a few freebies among the bears. There was also a statue of the recently laid off Blue Linden. I also found a Greek Gyros eatery, and some amusement part rides. I also came across the Second Life Coast Guard, and had a talk with one of the Master Chiefs. And there were many more.

With a lot to see, and so little time to see it, there was still I lot I have yet to see, let alone write about it. Sunday the 27th is the last day of events of the SL7B. Click Here for the SURL for the Auditorium.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The news of Philip Linden taking M's place as CEO on Thursday June 24 didn't take long to spread around Second Life. Various impromptu events from parades to parties to media programs were created on the spot in response to either discuss what happened, or celebrate the news.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Exploring around on the mainland, Grey Lupindo came across a place called Trendone City. Looking around, she found a number of sights and things that made it worth a visit. Read the story as she deals with wild taxis, visiting an art gallery, and hears about a building challenge.

Among the exhibits that stand out in SL7B is the SL Kids place, "Unexpected Childhoods." The kid avatars in Second Life occasionally raise eyebrows, due to people wondering why would someone grown want to experience the Metaverse as a child? Our reporter Gemma Cleanslate takes a look at the exhibit, and the avatars behind it.

Second Life Newser talked with 10 Goosson of M&M Creations about what has been happening at her store: M&M Creations. “M&M Creations just keeps steady and growing,” 10 explained, “There's a lot to tell. ... I’ll make it a short list.”

* The scenery screens have been deleted. After three years of selling those, the interest and needs were gone.

* Part of the main mall has been taken by the tree shop with all trees repacked with a temporary rez. So click, see and buy, or leave. Easy and much better than walking over the entire island and not being able to find what you are looking for.

* The flowershop, same story. The flowers have all been repacked, and some new shapes (sepals) have been added, with temporary rez as well. I dusted all flowers this way and was surprised about what I've created last three years.

* The landscaping shop has had a small transformation as well. It's filled, again a fast and easy way to see all builds rezzed, by using the good TP-system to visit the object you want to see.

* Marcthur is still releasing the Antique builder-packs. Those seem to be very popular.

* M&M Fashion will get more time and attention. Full Permission outfits with all materials used are very new in Second Life. Especially because all creators are so anxious about their goods being copied or stolen. We ignore the fear and keep making new things Full Permission to help designers of any level with good stuff to create great objects/outfits.

* It was time to create a new Tutorial: Fit & Wear Fashion Sculpts. A lot of questions about it and it isn't easy. So this tutorial is almost finished.

* In the line of this new tutorial, I will give the other three (and the new one of course) in-world and will schedule these. There has been a long running event in June: Tutorials. So, classes, classes and classes (this time on our islands platform with the possibility to rez, all people who will participate, can build right at the spot)

* I changed the island that much, only a few parts are now recognizable as they were.

- The fairyland has more wetland and has a huge cave with colorful scenes, all fantasy-flowers, fairy-like landscaping items, etc., are rezzed. I'm still amazed I built this all myself and I wonder around at midnight. The stage is wide and open next to the seaside with some quiet, hidden, corners to relax.

- We embraced Annika Designs with her low-prim builds (caves, waterfalls, etc.) so she has a place to rez a few of her great builds.

* Marc is also renewing the oldies. The cherubs have lighting shades and a very special copper texture. They really do look amazing.

* New fashion sculpts are made of course. Some of those oldies are renewed, because they needed the newest skills of the creator (smile).

10's 4rth Tutorial was released in the beginning of June, like all the others, free of charge. They have also been taking part in the gridwide Madpea Hunt.

Always improving, always striving to do better, M&M continues to offer shoppers high quality sculpted outdoor products. And 10 Goosson is still personally helping those new to building to become better at it.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

In a statement on the Linden blog, Philip Linden announced that M would be resigning his post as Chief Executive Officer of Linden Labs, and would be taking the position of "interim" CEO. Bob Komin, former Chief Financial Officer, would be promoted to Chief Operations Officer and work "side by side" with Philip.

This is a big, tough change but one the board of directors and management team deeply believes in. We owe Mark great thanks for the many things we've accomplished in these last two years -- most notably a great improvement in the stability of Second Life, and also the hiring and nurturing of a strong team of new leaders who are now ready to do some amazing work together.

Our thinking as a team is that my returning to the CEO job now can bring a product and technology focus that will help rapidly improve Second Life. We need to simplify and focus our product priorities -- concentrating all our capabilities on making Second Life easier to use and better for the core experiences that it is delivering today. I think that I can be a great help and a strong leader in that process.

It is an honor to have a chance to help more directly again, and I come to this mission with energy, excitement, and an open mind about what we need and how we need to do it. I want to see Second Life continue to grow, amaze, and change the world. It's what gets me up in the morning. Despite the challenges of such a big change, I am happy to be drafting this blog post while sitting in our San Francisco office, surrounded by the many Lindens who have made it all possible.

More to come, as soon as we all get settled and figure out how best to work together!

Details are still coming in as to yet another major news story in what has been a month full of surprises for Second Life.

On Wednesday June 23rd, Second Life bade goodbye to one of it's classic sims, Greenies Home. The last of the sims owned by Rezzable to stay in the Metaverse as others closed down and moved to Opensim, last week the decision was made, "it is time for the Greenies to come home." And so, visitors dropped in for final events, and to give the little green fellows one last look before they left.

Besides writing news articles, Shellie Sands has been raising Ozanimal bunnies in Second Life. So how are things on the bunny ranch? Could be better. Shellie explains things in her story "Declining Markets."

Changing one's voice in Second Life is not exactly new. I heard stories about software that when installed on your computer would change the inflection of one's voice, from male to female and vice-versa. Other equipment could do the job as well. One male DJ friend of mine once demonstrated this when he used a second computer to log-in an alt he sometimes used for a roleplay sim, and used his equipment to alter his voice that made the voice coming from the avatar closer to a girl's.

Now Linden Labs itself will be offering this service. Almost overlooked in the midst of the Linden Labs' layoffs, the 2.1 "Alpha" viewer has been released with the option of "Voice Morphing."

Voice Morphing is a feature that Residents have been asking for almost as long as we've had voice capabilities inworld. Simply put, it's the ability to change your avatar's voice to match any one of a number of tones and characteristics. Want to sound like a robot, a furry, or the opposite sex? With Voice Morphing, that ability is now just a few clicks away. The ability to change what your voice sounds like inworld will not only make it a richer and more interesting experience to be part of a community in Second Life, but will also help introduce voice to Residents who have been reluctant to use it in the past because they were uncomfortable making their real voice heard inworld. With Voice Morphing, you can be whoever you like in Second Life in voice as well as in appearance.As a first step, we're introducing 25 voices, available for purchase via subscription in five packs of five each, with the following themes: scary, feminine, masculine, tiny, and techie. You'll be able to sample each one for free to find the morphs that work best for you.

To both try out the voices for free, and purchase them, one goes to "Voice Island," in the sim of the same name at (131, 125, 22). Buying a "pack" of five morph voices will cost 750 Lindens, with five packs up for purchase: "scary," "feminine," "masculine," "tiny," and "techie."

It will be interesting to see how much this development will affect Second Life. The posts on the official Linden blog suggest roleplaying uses for characters, as well as allow those too shy to use their own voice to use another. When mentioned in the Residents' Disscusion forum posts though, the first thing brought up was about those using voice to make sure they were picking up a girl for a fast date, and how paranoid they must be feeling now. Some thought this might be the end of many in SL acting like playboys. Some were more skeptical, saying some wouldn't be so easy to fool by voice morphing they've seen in the past.

Ranchan Weidman was kind enough to build this four-story office building. It took a few days of her elbow grease, and then a little time about where to put it. Some people at Sunweaver Estates graciously offered some space for it, and then a few days later yours truly finally got off his tail and got a few furnishings.

The Second Life Newser Office is in the Sunweaver Air residential (and commercial) sim at (140, 70, 25). By all means drop by, and if a party happens to be going on in one of the nearby clubs, Cutlass and Spiritvalley, feel free to join in. For those looking for a place to call home, Sunweaver Estates offers generous rental fees.

And yes, I know those desks in the office aren’t the best for a business, but we’ll see about replacing them after some money comes in.

So Linden Labs have been clearing out their inventory. 30% of their global workforce have crashed never to return. As we all know it's never nice when it happens, and I am sure we all wish them and their families the very best for the future. It's definitely goodbye and not "brb." This time of course though the crashing is in real life, not SL. And the ones who have gone have real families to support, real mortgages to pay and real bills to face up to. It's not just a few minutes or hours of inconvenience, because you can't dance the night away with your mates.

So what are the ramifications? What does this mean for us toons? Have our gods deserted us??.. Linden Labs are certainly not shouting the news from the rooftops, and why would they? .... Shedding nearly a third of your workforce is bad news however you look at it. Hard facts about the state of Linden's affairs are hard to come by. Facts and figures about the Linden empire fall firmly into the category of "statistics" (as in lies, damn lies and statistics), so we can't know for certain. One thing is certain though ... companies do not relieve themselves of a third of their workforce lightly. Was it always the plan to sack one in three of the workforce or did Bigwig Linden just wake up one morning and think it seemed like a good idea? The fact is they, as a business are in trouble, and if they are in trouble ... we are in trouble!

Residents beware! If the Lindens decide that 1 in 3 isn't enough and that they may as well turn the lights (and the servers) off and go home. What are you going to do? Suddenly the killer shoes you just bought seem less sparkly as you may not be able to log on and wear them tomorrow. If you think that's bad ... have a thought for the poor old landowners. Not only have they previously endured price manipulation of their assets ... now it is looking more likely than not that they will loose everything. I am no land expert but a quick check of prices tells me that an island is $1,000 us dollars and $295 dollars a month for maintenance whatever that is. That equates to over $4,500 us dollars a year for a few pixels that will go "poof" at the flick of an administrators index finger.

If you want my advice fellow residents....save your money and sell your house while you still can.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The SL7B sims were given a short preview to the press, and a number came over for a brief time to see what the place had in store. Not far from the entrance was a wall of various people who had a place here. Which included the following:

This is just a small sample of what was available. So all residents are invited to come over an enjoy the exhibits representing a wide range of what Second Life has to offer in this week long celebration of it’s birthday.

The event officially starts at 10 AM when the gates open with a speech by Philip Linden at the Main Stage. The events go on until Midnight Sunday June 27th. The sims will remain up for several days afterward, and will be taken down July 3rd or after.

Get ready for the SL7B! In spite of the layoffs and changes , it is again time to celebrate the wonderful creators and designers of second life and exhibits that they place in the SL7B SIMS! These people are the backbone of the SL life here. You will have 21 regions to roam and be enchanted.

The names of the regions tell it all: Uncanny, Paradox, Fantastic, Marvelous, Absurdity, and Contradiction to name a few. Search on your map and you will see a list of all the sims you can visit. The regions will remain open until July 3, so you can pick and choose how to get to all those regions. The theme itself is a clue to the amazement you will have: “Unexpected Collaborations.”

I took a peek at some of the exhibits and saw how varied they are in concept and execution. You will also find gifts waiting for you at some of the exhibits. One I stopped at is a huge outdoor grill with breakfast cooking for you.

Make sure you plan time this week to experience it all! Many parties are planned with SL musicians and DJs spinning for your enjoyment. You can visit this page to check the activities: SL7 Events - http://sl7b.wordpress.com/events-all-times-slt/ .

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Well readers, one of the big events in SL is upon us. SL7B, Second Life’s Seventh Anniversary Celebration, is this Monday.

Craving birthday cake? Get ready to celebrate Second Life's seventh birthday party, otherwise known as SL7B!

The SL7B celebration begins on Monday, June 21 at 10:00am PDT and runs through Sunday, June 27, spanning 21 regions with over 700 contributors, over 300 exhibits, and over 200 live performers and speakers (including special speeches from Philip and M Linden). SL7B is a showcase for the art, innovations, and ingenuity of all Second Life Residents.

The regions will remain open through July 3 for people to enjoy, but the live entertainment ends on June 27—so be sure to stop by SL7B next week to get your fill of the amazing experiences that this event has to offer.

What can you expect? The unexpected, of course.

This year's theme is "Unexpected Collaborations," a celebration of that which is only possible through our virtual world. While the event is sponsored by Linden Lab, it's really an unexpected collaboration of its own—the fruit of the collective labors of exhibitors, volunteers, and Lindens.

The gates open on Monday at 10:00am PDT, but we'll be kicking things off officially with Philip, who will be joining us at the Main Stage on Monday at 11:00. Second Life will be seven years old on Wednesday, June 23—and M will be joining us for cake and birthday wishes at 9:00am PDT on the Main Stage.

Somehow, the part about "expect the Unexpected" seems a little ominous this time.

This time, the birthday bash has a cloud overhead: the recent “Restructuring” that resulted in about a third of the Linden Lab staff being shown the door, and a shakeup in the confidence about many residents about their confidence in the future of the Metaverse. This was reflected last week when the Linden Dollar began fluctuating in value. Linden Labs claims the cause of the fluctuation as both the Restructuring *and* more residents coming in earlier this year over the publicity over the movie “Avatar.” However, this instability didn’t happen until after the layoffs. Some people are a bit reluctant to buy Lindens or as many Lindens.

So will the recent turmoil result in a small turnout, much like the numbers of SL6B were a disappointment to some compared to “the big 5?” Time will tell.

In the meantime, we at Second Life Newser will cover the big event, and other people, places, and happenings, in the Metaverse.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

FYI there are only a couple of weeks left to visit the Star Trek Museum in its current location. We will be closed for a brief period of time starting June 30, and reopening the first week in July at a new location which will be announced.

The Star Trek Museum will be moving to the island of New Eridani, currently under construction, during the first week in July.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Among the events at SL7 will be a presentation of "The Fire," a play by Mysty Mellison. Recently SL Newser reporter Grey Lupindo interviewed Mysty, asking her about the play and how it got to Second Life.

Looking for a chance to fight fires in the grid? If so, you were the kind of person the Second Life Fire and Rescue Department was looking for when it held it’s Fireman’s Ball in the NYC sim. After the party, Chief JayFizzle McGinnis had a few words with Second Life Newser.

The Greenies are leaving!!! One of the most amazing and fun places in sl is moving on. Here is the notice they sent out.

It's a sad day for SL and a sad day for all Greenie fans. The sim closes its doors June 23. :( We're gonna celebrate the Greenies Thursday - Sunday with Live performer, DJs, and many freebies. Join us for the last fun on a gigantic scale. Any performers who wanna join us .. you are sincerely invited to participate.. Angelina Rhode is the one who makes the schedule. ^^ See ya and please use the last week to explore each single corner of the sim.

I looked at the Rezzable Blog which was more poignant about the departure. But they are looking forward to having the home on their grid. How sad for us in SLthough. I have had so much enjoyment there exploring. The first view of the home causes your jaw to drop open. It is a massive home of some humans (never to be seen) who have greenies living in every crevice.

They are very mischievous alien critters. You will chuckle as you roam the floor or take a craft and fly around as the aliens do. I found a group zooming around when I visited tonight. I have fished in the kitchen sink there to win a greenie avatar. I have four of them. The store has so many . I was tempted to buy another but fought it off.

The next weekend looks like fun. You can still make a visit there until June 23. I know all those who have been there will want to take one more look. For those who have not, don’t delay a visit! - Greenies Home Rezzable (80,138,41)

Just to be sure the Greenies were at their new home safely, I got myself a Rezzable avatar and logged into the Rezzable grid and there they were!!!

Independence Day is still a few weeks away in the United States. But in the Dublin 2 sim in Second Life, it was the “Ex-Linden Independence Day” Party. Both the laid-off and the still-hired of the Lindens showed up for music and fun, and many residents dropped by to join in the event.

Last week, Second Life Newser reported on the appearance of a memorial set up in the honor of those Lindens whose jobs were terminated in M Linden's "Restructuring." A few days later, our reporter Gemma Cleanslate went to the place, and found people were still visiting there to pay their respects.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Fox Reports began as a monitoring system for SkyBeam Sandbox. It was used to be able to file notes and reports about various people who caused mischief or broke the rules with repeated infractions leading to land or estate banning as appropriate, with the ability for all of the sandbox 'guardians' to have access to each others' reports. The system has a number of features geared towards making this information easily accessible by all admins without having the installation or trust network issues incurred with something like banlink.

Even more exciting are the new features which allow for estate level controls from the web. For any estate manager or owner who has ever been at an event and had to leave to go ban someone or restart a laggy region, the ability to launch a web browser and handle the situation remotely is a huge blessing. It further enables one to react to situations when not even logged into Second Life, like when one is stuck at work, for example. This also gives you the ability to give additional managers the estate level controls, even if they aren't Estate Managers in game, thus extending your management team beyond the normal ten allotted.

Second Life Newser's Bixyl Shuftan recently met up with Fox Reports creator EriX Oh to ask him a few questions about the security system.

Bixyl Shuftan: How did you find out about SL?

EriX Oh: (I saw it on) TV, and was jobless, for a short time. (I was interested in) the thing, that I can convert L$ to real money, which I did sometimes.

Bixyl Shuftan: How did your experience go at first?

EriX Oh: Because I'm programmer, I've had a completely different experience than the other users. It went fast. After a few days of SL, I found this sandbox (SkyBeam), later on, Charlene, etc.

Bixyl Shuftan: How long was it before you got a position here at Skybeam?

EriX Oh: I think only three weeks, and I had the guardian tag. ... I always made photos of griefers, proof ready, put these up to my server, and gave Char the links to the picture as IM.

Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first come up with the idea of Fox Reports?

EriX Oh: I came to the idea when I saw, the issues between guardians, and the communications: what did he/she do , with that person, etc. I already saw the problems. So, I came to the idea to have a webpage, to manage that. It was only a simple textbox, with an person-index,nothing more.

Bixyl Shuftan: What kind of problems, for example?

EriX Oh: Communication: I mean, what did Guardian A do with that person X , is X already warned/banned, etc. So the entire "clique" will instantly update, and not need to ask around for the information, and solving the offline-unavailable issues of the person(s).

EriX Oh: And so, it evolved more and more. And then I got the idea to match the Second Life estate-ban list with my system. And so I re-made the system, to get and manage SL's banlist, and resolving other issues, such as mass ban/unban.

Bixyl Shuftan: How long did it take to develop the system?

EriX Oh: I only needed a few, four maybe, days to have the first primitive system up, since, I did already own the server. The system lasted only two months, and then I made what is now known as Fox Reports, April 2007 I think. Not yet public.

Bixyl Shuftan: So what are some of the features of Fox Reports?

EriX Oh: Main feature (as written on the main page), Report management and Estate-Management (off-world), with User-security rights, and E-Mail notifications. Estate includes full access to the estate's banlist, restarts, and messages. It mainly makes use of the (comfy) restart-sim functions, since they no longer need to TP to the actual sim to restart it.

Access via LSL works well. Thus, you're able to add a "Firealarm-button" to restart the sim, where the button is. Of course, check first who did pushed the button. Otherwise, anyone can restart the sim.

Bixyl Shuftan: So this fire alarm button, anyone can see in the sim, and press?

EriX Oh: If badly programmed, yes. I never saw something like that.

Bixyl Shuftan: I read there was a feature in which the system can be accessed if one is logged into Second Life, or not.

EriX Oh: The functions are all accessible, inworld and outworld, using a regular webbrowser. To restart a sim, for example, you do NOT need to be online in SL - as the bot will perform it, not you.

Bixyl Shuftan: How easy is it to put another sim manager into the system, such as a friend or friends who can be here when you can't?

EriX Oh: Easy, you simply create a Fox Reports account for the person, and tell the server, that the person can access these estates (permissions can be set on estate levels - if you've multiple estates, and different groups of people. who can do things). They do NOT need to be an EM here in world - thus, that allows to have more than 10 "pseudo-EMs.” That's a trick, that we do use here in the SkyBeam sandbox. They're not estate managers here, but can ban/un-ban people from the estate, and restart the sim in case of issues, causing many other people to go "huh????"

Bixyl Shuftan: Any other features in particular you wanted to bring up?

EriX Oh: A new feature will be added soon, a "sim grabber,” that fetches parcels for sale (you do not need to drop an object to the parcel) and allows you to list it on your page, using the API - but that needs to be developed first.

Bixyl Shuftan: Any other projects that you're working on besides Fox Reports?

EriX Oh: I'm trying a new app, but dunno if that works, etc. It has nothing to do with SL. I've some small applications available to download (they can be found at Fox Report's too).

Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds Good. Anything else you want to add?

EriX Oh: Not that I know of, except that I need a few more clients.

EriX had a little time before he had to leave, so he showed me his grounds at the appropriately-named Fox sim. It had some interesting features, such as an obstacle course, and a building with pictures of foxes, and old Luxembourgian money from the country's pre-Euro days on the floor.

Monday, June 14, 2010

It's happened to the best of us. You log into Second Life, expecting all to be well in the Metaverse, and CRACK! You find your world turned upside down. Our roving reporter Shellie Sands describes her own experience as she logged into her home one day, and cannot believe what she found.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

It’s been quite a time for us at Second Life Newser, dealing with not just one, but two major events on our hands. One mainly for us, the other felt by just about every resident I met.

The first was, well, the paper we used to work for closing, and Second Life Newser beginning as it folded. Starting up a new media company would be no easy task. Thankfully, people have again and again expressed their well wishes, as well as expressing their thanks there will be a new paper to read. Thank you very much for the kind words, and your support. It meant a lot.

And so, on with our mission, to bring you the readers the news across the grid big and small. From the mega-events such as SL7 and Burning Life to the personal experiences of various residents. We will soon be introducing new sections to the paper to keep the front page from becoming too cluttered, especially on busy days. The newspaper site will also be tweaked a bit to be easier to read.

We are also in the process of getting an office for a physical location in Second Life. Once everything is all set, the address will be posted online.

It's been a promising beginning.

Even before the dust was beginning to settle, wham! The heavy hand of M Linden struck again as it never had before, with about a third of the staff up and dismissed. In a press release, even in an e-mail released to the residents, M Linden insisted Linden Labs was healthy and this was necessary streamlining. But as has been mentioned in various commentaries, such as here and here, this kind of cutback is not a sign of a company prospering.

There has been plenty of speculation about what this might mean, notably as it comes alongside the news of Linden Lab developing a browser-based client. Among them, that this was done to prepare Second Life for being sold. Others wonder if the Metaverse is going to be downscaled in graphics and flexibility, turned into a primitive version of itself, in order to become “Yoville2.” Somehow, the joke I made on April 1 in the old newspaper about the Lindens selling Second Life to China to concentrate on making a “Farmvile” sequel doesn’t seem so funny now.

One Columnist in Computerworld didn’t think Second Life was about to be sold or made into a graphical shadow of what it once was, but he did feel the best days of the Metaverse were behind it as Linden Labs takes it into “maintenance mode” to try and keep residents from slowly leaving. Goodbye to the hopes that it could find a mainstream audience, and heading for a slow decline.

In my opinion, Second Life can reverse this downward course and rise in numbers again. But as long as M Linden is in charge, Linden Labs’ history of bumbling and stumbling will continue.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Topic: Viewer 2... I love Viewer 2... it's a great user interface. I am in the 3% minority. Duh?http://blogs.secondlife.com/poll.jspa?poll=1018

Right to Speak: I wrote and taught over 100 classes about SL, about 2000 of your core peeps. The root question always "How to find fun?" and "How to make the funsters come to my gig?" Truism: The teacher always learns the most.

P.S. My friends asked me to write you. I care. And IMHO, SL rules as a form of entertainment, completely crushes movies, videos, CDs, MP3s, etc. It's all about people and fun and world peace - WOOT!

any1 Gynoid

* * * * * * * * * *

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.Second Life Newser reserves the right to investigate any names used in submitted stories. Please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture or use an alias for them.

Have you ever been to Healthinfo Island? It is a wonderful place to visit with a library of so much health information resources for you. June is Men’s Health Month.

Now, most men seem to ignore health information in RL, it is said. Well, now is your opportunity go to check out the abundance of resources aimed at just you. You can go in the quiet of the day or night and find out so much you need to know. There is information on the screenings you may need and medical conditions that you would not even think of! You are able to take a trivia challenge and see how really savvy you are … or not.

Did you know that there are conditions that you can have that are similar to women … like male menopause? Go see. It is free and all set up for your convenience. There are three areas to visit on the island. You have until the end of June to get there.

Friday, June 11, 2010

At the Rouge Lounge and Boutique nightclub, the owner CodeBastard Redgrave set up a graveyard with rows of headstones as a tribute to the Linden staff whom were laid off in the “Reorganization” announced on June 9th. Porting in to the place, it was gray with lag, and half over water. The gray took some time to fade as people were continuing to port in to pay their respects, including a few Lindens. Blue, Teagan, and Mia Linden’s stones were particularly full of tributes.

Being thanked by one visitor, Code commented, “It’s only normal. I didn’t know what else to do.” After building the memorial, residents had been porting in, and leaving flowers, bears, and other items in tribute. When asked about the turnout, Code told that it had taken her by surprise, “it’s been capped all of the last 24 (hours). I had to lower the avatar count to make it less laggy, but it’s been from 40-80 people non-stop. ... I have no idea how many people circulated around here ... since my visitor counter busted over memory usage.”

“I didn’t plan anything, to be honest, but I am on the lookout for a place that could host it better than here, a more permanent one. ... I just wanted to pay my respects to them, for serving us for so long and being so patient with us. I'm just so in awe of the response.”

People continuing to drop in asked about leaving flowers, finding they no longer could. Code explained she had disabled that option, but left at least one flower in front of every stone. She had also made headstones for a few Lindens let go before the purge yesterday out of requests by visitors, such as Pathfinder.

A number of Lindens dropped by, including Zen, Aimee, Cayle, Fisher, Kona, and Coyote. Most spoke nothing. Some greeted the others hello. Only Kona spoke with any degree of boisterousness, “lol ... wow.” Other visitors expressed their sadness for those let go, occasionally one asking one of the visiting Lindens how could they let this happen. Coyote Linden remarked that he couldn’t say anything not in the press release, “Now please let me be,” and he walked to the memorial to contemplate what happened to his peers.

The graveyard is at the Rouge sim at (152, 51, 21). Code plans to house the memorial until a more appropriate place is found.

“Thank you CodeB for giving us all this chance to show the Lindens how much we appreciate them.”

On Thursday June 10, the Relay for Life group Passionate Redheads announced their success in reaching their one million Linden mark in their fundraising.

Many of the group were at a party in Ashira's Enchanting Ballroom at the Isle of Adaron, the party starting at 5 PM SL time. It was 5:52 PM when Sabine McGettigan announced, "We just went over L$1 Million!!! Go Redheads!!!"

"We have all worked very hard for this." Daaneth Kivioq, whom provided the picture, would later say, "Thank you."

In the Linden Blog, M Linden announced there would be “the undertaking of a significant restructuring of Linden Lab.”

Though the company remains in a solid financial position, it has become clear that we need to make some hard decisions in order to bring current and future Residents the kind of product and experience we feel they deserve. After three years of intensive hiring, we've come to a place where it's important that we reorganize our teams and find a renewed level of discipline and momentum as we move forward.

The press release linked to the blog mentioned “the company aims to create a browser-based virtual world experience, eliminating the need to download software.” And “Linden Lab will look to extend the Second Life experience into popular social networks.” Then there was this ominous statement: “The software development teams will be consolidated in North America and customer support will be reconfigured to provide more scalable services. As a result, Linden Lab anticipates staff reductions of approximately 30 percent.”

Almost a third of Linden Labs’ staff will be gone.

In the Linden Blog Discussion threads was “Bidding Farewell to Many Lindens, “ some of the Linden team being let go were disclosed and discussed. The popular Blue Linden was apparently on the list, as residents were unable to find him in search. People expressed sadness for the Lindens let go. As people usually complain about Linden doings, seeing people shedding tears for a group of Lindens was an unusual sight. More than one commented along the lines of “the nice ones were let go.” One resident apologized for her criticism of Pink Linden for not answering her as she was apparently among those let go.

Another posted the following:

I've been physically sick to my stomach all day. I've had the benefit of meeting a great many Lindens inworld - and in First Life - over the last four years. It started back in 2007, just trying to get a straight answer on some of the kid policies, and eventually turned into a number of friendships.

The three losses that hurt me the most are Blue, Mia, and Teagan.

Mia was the first I ever met, in RL. Always a sweetheart to me. She'd give me Linden Bears hot off the press. She worked with the mentors and volunteers, and would put together fun inworld events for the holidays. If you did the egg hunt, the valentines heart hunt in 2009, the halloween event, or some of the others - that was Mia.

Blue sent me and a handful of others to the cornfield once, for fun. Always listened, always cared. Did a mean pole dance in Rouge one night, which was one of the more hilarious things you'd ever want to see (consider the avatar he wore). Always was with us Residents, in many cases literally. He was the sort of guy who would attend Resident events.

Teagan took me to jail in RL one day, sightseeing in SF. In the wake of all the drama over child avatars at SL5B, she showed up as in a chibi kid avvie at SL5B *and* over at Kids5B. "Hired" me to shoot her pics for SL6B, and wore a shirt I created ("Philip Linden Has a Posse") as part of her usual inworld uniform.

All of them respected me as a Resident, and looked beyond the avatar choice.

It's a sad day. I'm not going to say "this is the end of SL," but it's certainly the end of the SL I've known.

How M Linden’s “restructuring” will affect the confidence of the general resident population, and their willingness to put their real-life money into the Metaverse, remains to be seen.Sources: Second Life Blogs, PR Newswire,

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

On June 18th, 19th, and 20th the SS Galaxy will be marking its third anniversary in SL. The Zodiac Ballroom will be hosting the live musicians. Eponine Dench will entertain with her sultry jazz songs Friday at 6:00 pm SL time. Saturday at 2:00 pm, Carah Nitely takes the stage with her popular songs. At 5:00 pm, you can listen to the blues and county style of EdHausen Morpork. Sunday the festivities start at 11:00 am with Katia Keres will light up the venue with her expressive music and at 6:00 pm you can listen to the acoustic guitar of Edward Kyomoon.

If you have not visited the SS Galaxy, you have a treat in store for you. This magnificent vessel occupies three sims in the Blake Sea. You will find a myriad of places to visit between shows in the Zodiac. Play a little miniature golf, skeet shoot, fishing, or play a little basketball. There is a gallery with a featured artist, many shops to visit, and much more to discover for your extended visit.

There are 8 decks to explore! Book a room and stay for the weekend. You will be able to see all the planned events and any changes on their website: http://www.ssgalaxy.com. You will also find the boarding gangway SLURL if you would like to visit before the anniversary weekend.

Congratulations to the SS Galaxy for all the fun you have provided for so many over these three years!